BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi raised on Sunday the Iraqi flag at a border crossing with Syria days after Iraqi forces retook it from the Islamic State group, state TV announced.
Al-Iraqiya TV said al-Abadi visited the newly-liberated town of Qaim and the nearby Husaybah border crossing in western Iraq. Both sit along what was once an important supply route used by ISIS when the group controlled large areas in Syria and Iraq.
Iraqi forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition drove ISIS from Qaim and surrounding areas last week, in what coalition officials said marked the end of the conventional war against the extremist group in Iraq.
The militants are expected to rely more on insurgent-style attacks now that they no longer hold significant territory.
Elsewhere, two suicide bombers on foot struck near a Shiite mosque in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, killing a civilian and wounding 16 others, said Interior Minister spokesman Brig. Gen. Saad Maan. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bore the hallmarks of ISIS which has previously claimed responsibility for such attacks.
The ethnically-mixed city Kirkuk is the country’s largest contested city claimed by Arabs, Turkmen and Kurds. The bombing is the first since Iraqi federal security forces took over the city from Kurdish region-run troops last month in the wake of a controversial independence vote.
Biden announced the permanent basing of a U.S. military garrison in Poland. He also said the U.S. is sending two additional F-35 fighter jet squadrons to the U.K. and more air defense and other capabilities to Germany and Italy.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held nonaligned status and apply to join NATO. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had blocked the move, insisting the Nordic pair change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists.
The attack on the suspected militant is the latest in a series of strikes over the past years targeting al-Qaida-linked militants in northwestern Syria.
NATO's secretary general says the alliance wants to increase the number of its rapid reaction forces from the current 40,000 to over 300,000.
The governor of Okinawa is calling for further reduction of the U.S. military presence there amid growing fear of regional military tension.
The move established a new baseline for European presence, defense officials said Wednesday.
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